Topic or Focus:

Supporting Evidence -- Quotes

Subject:

English Language Arts

Level:

High School

Key Standard(s): (from the Common Core State Standards, English Language Arts)

  • RL.9-10.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
  • RL.9-10.2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

Text/Resources to be Used (Optional):

Any grade-level text

Rationale:

When asked to use text evidence to support their claims in responses, students often have difficulty choosing quotes that specifically and strongly support their claims. They also have a hard time explaining why the author includes specific pieces in order to develop and continue a plot or the development of a character.

Directions:

Students will read a grade level passage that demonstrates a specific literary device, then complete a graphic organizer to organize their thoughts.
[Note: The organizer can be adapted for scaffolding learning by pre-filling various portions of the columns, controlling the parts of the activity that students must complete independently]
[Editor's Note: the assessment can be modified by only addressing one literary element at a time]

Scoring:

2 pts for each box that student are required to complete (use 0-2 scale, where 0 = no response or unrelated response; 1 = partial response; 2 = complete response)

Analysis:

This assessment will distinguish among the following:
  • Students who know and can define the meaning of various literary elements.
  • Students who can identify quotes to demonstrate particular literary elements.
  • Students who can explain how a quote demonstrates a particular literary element.


Contributor:

Kristine Ferrare, English Teacher, Ella T. Grasso Technical High School, Groton, CT
Editor: Kim M. Bennett, Consultant, Northside Consulting, Hartford, CT